RNA, good for vaccines, can also be used as a pesticide

RIBONUCLEIC ACID (RNA),RNARNARNARNARNARNA once little-known outside biological circles, has recently become the molecule . The reason is its role in covid-19 vaccines. The molecules in these encode spike, a coronavirus protein. So, when the protein-making machinery of a body cell encounters such , spike is what it makes. That lets a vaccine-recipient’s immune system learn to recognise a crucial part of the enemy before the real thing turns up.Helping to make proteins is not, however, ’s only job. Among many other things it is central to a process called interference, which prevents, rather than facilitates, the manufacture of specific proteins. i, as this activity is called for short, has also been investigated medically. It has been approved for use against four genetic diseases and is under investigation for the treatment of more than a dozen others. That is good. Some biologists, though, think i may have an important non-medical use as well, as a precisely targeted, environmentally friendly pesticide.